Please help: menu for a special day

Herbie

Herbie

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Hi All

Can you help me with a menu, please? I want to make my parents a special meal for their Golden Wedding Anniversary in a couple of weeks. They would have a party, but those plans were scrapped months ago. It needs to be something I can make the day before and deliver for simple re-heating/plating the next day. So far my ideas are:

  • Starter: I've drawn a blank. Not soup as they have small appetites and they say soup fills them up too much.
  • Main: Chicken Chasseur with new potatoes and some veg. Maybe
  • Dessert: Now, this needs to be gluten free as I'm cooking at home and not their kitchen. I can use dairy though. Any ideas? It's only for the two of them. Cheesecake?
Please help, I want to make this as special for them as I can. Thanks all.
 
Starter - Maybe some kind of small salad? Or, you can omit it if you think it will detract from the main meal.
Main - Sounds lovely.
Desserts - What do they like? What would they normally order in a restaurant or something they enjoy but wouldn't bother to make?

I've done this kind of idea for my parents. They are very hard to please so I just threw out several ideas for each course and let them pick a few options. They still didn't know what I would end up preparing but I knew it was something that *might* pass muster. I'm assuming your parents aren't as ungrateful. ;-)
 
Thanks mjd

Fortunately my parents are grateful. I made a venison casserole for them for New Year. They both like my cooking and mum likes a night off and having something she would not usually cook.

They are quite adventurous and don't eat the same think when at a restaurant. Mum does not usually eat dessert unless they are out. Dad has bought trifles, sponge puddings, pies at home.

A salad is a good idea, I'm thinking smoked salmon, fennel and something orangey.
 
That's a lovely idea!
Salads or canapes sound like a good light starter. If you have the budget and access to he product, I can't recommend enough a scallop tartar: it is delicious, very simple to make and deliver. You can also do a fish tartar or carpaccio. If your parents aren't into raw food, verrines (food in a little glass) are very popular in France for a light starter, and they are great because you can really put whatever you want in them! A few examples here: The best verrine ideas

For a light, gluten-free dessert that you can make the day before, I recommend the delicious îles flottantes ! It's a very popular dessert in France, and I haven't yet met anyone who didn't love it! It is also very easy to make, unless maybe you're not familiar with preparing desserts. I've never tried any English recipe, but this one for example seems legit: Easy Ile Flottante Recipe
Otherwise, if you don't feel like experimenting with new recipes for this special occasion, why not a good old apple crumble?
 
Hi mjd It went really well, thank you. It nearly didn't happen as we had a snowstorm on the Saturday (it was forecast for Sunday), but the roads were clear by lunchtime so we drove over. I decided to keep it very simple so Mum did not have to do much on the day, and they asked us to skype them and eat with them so we both needed to get the food heated and at the same time. It worked out very well as we were able to have a conversation over lunch as if we were there.

Starter: We just had cashew nuts and olives (favourites of all of us) with a glass of wine.
Main: I made a goulash-inspired venison casserole and to accompany I prepared some purple sprouting and then bought some prepared ready-to-microwave potatoes (butter and herb new potatoes and a mixed root veg mash).
Pud: Cherry cheesecakes and sticky toffee pudding. (Gluten and dairy free so we could eat them too). I bought some gold sprinkles to go on top of their puds, and I have some gold snowflake napkins left over from Christmas (most apt as it was snowing).

We talked from 12:30 - 2:30. By then my dad was tired and went for a rest.

It was a shame they could not have a party, but we did what we could. They had a (skype) cream tea with their friends the day before (their actual anniversary) too. The cream tea was delivered top their homes that morning from a local café.

Mum's birthday next! We have decided that skype meals work well so maybe a takeaway.
 
Herbie said:
Hi mjd It went really well, thank you. It nearly didn't happen as we had a snowstorm on the Saturday (it was forecast for Sunday), but the roads were clear by lunchtime so we drove over. I decided to keep it very simple so Mum did not have to do much on the day, and they asked us to skype them and eat with them so we both needed to get the food heated and at the same time. It worked out very well as we were able to have a conversation over lunch as if we were there.

Starter: We just had cashew nuts and olives (favourites of all of us) with a glass of wine.
Main: I made a goulash-inspired venison casserole and to accompany I prepared some purple sprouting and then bought some prepared ready-to-microwave potatoes (butter and herb new potatoes and a mixed root veg mash).
Pud: Cherry cheesecakes and sticky toffee pudding. (Gluten and dairy free so we could eat them too). I bought some gold sprinkles to go on top of their puds, and I have some gold snowflake napkins left over from Christmas (most apt as it was snowing).

We talked from 12:30 - 2:30. By then my dad was tired and went for a rest.

It was a shame they could not have a party, but we did what we could. They had a (skype) cream tea with their friends the day before (their actual anniversary) too. The cream tea was delivered top their homes that morning from a local café.

Mum's birthday next! We have decided that skype meals work well so maybe a takeaway.
Click to expand...

I think its brilliant that you skyped a celebration meal. Bravo!
 
Herbie said:
Hi mjd It went really well, thank you. It nearly didn't happen as we had a snowstorm on the Saturday (it was forecast for Sunday), but the roads were clear by lunchtime so we drove over. I decided to keep it very simple so Mum did not have to do much on the day, and they asked us to skype them and eat with them so we both needed to get the food heated and at the same time. It worked out very well as we were able to have a conversation over lunch as if we were there.

Starter: We just had cashew nuts and olives (favourites of all of us) with a glass of wine.
Main: I made a goulash-inspired venison casserole and to accompany I prepared some purple sprouting and then bought some prepared ready-to-microwave potatoes (butter and herb new potatoes and a mixed root veg mash).
Pud: Cherry cheesecakes and sticky toffee pudding. (Gluten and dairy free so we could eat them too). I bought some gold sprinkles to go on top of their puds, and I have some gold snowflake napkins left over from Christmas (most apt as it was snowing).

We talked from 12:30 - 2:30. By then my dad was tired and went for a rest.

It was a shame they could not have a party, but we did what we could. They had a (skype) cream tea with their friends the day before (their actual anniversary) too. The cream tea was delivered top their homes that morning from a local café.

Mum's birthday next! We have decided that skype meals work well so maybe a takeaway.
Click to expand...
Oh, wow. It sounds like it was a lovely time. I'm glad you all found a way to celebrate safely and make it enjoyable for everyone!
 
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